Pixabay
The Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber says one in five businesses have reported that they have had to cut jobs due to the detrimental effects of load shedding.
The Chamber said a survey of 70, large, medium and small, local businesses revealed that over 90 % had decided to halt investment and expansion plans.
CEO Denise van Huysteen said the findings also showed that 75% of local businesses were forced to implement quickly, while some laid off nearly 150 employees in recent months.
Business also warned that the risk of retrenchments and business closures remains high.
"Due to the twin impacts of load shedding causing loss production and increased overhead cost incurred in mitigating the impact of load shedding with generators, solar powers or inverters," Van Huysteen said.
Other impacts on businesses included the cancellation of shifts, increased overtime to keep up with demand and increased breakdowns and damage to machinery.
Van Huysteen said the Municipality's agreement to a voluntary 24-hour loadshedding schedule for those manufacturers that meet the required criteria, was helping to mitigate some of the effects on those companies who have to constantly restart their production lines.
The Chamber has called on all businesses to reduce consumption by switching off non-essential equipment.
"Our local economy is heavily reliant on manufacturing, which makes up 21% of local business and employs thousands of people, as well as having a substantial downstream economic impact through supply chain linkages," Van Huysteen said.
